What lies underneath
by vorpalkickass
Summary: A cell of Tenno stumble upon a long-burried threat to all life, that has slumbered for eons. In an attempt to learn more about it, they soon find themselves gravely overwhelmed. ((Naturally - lore-bending and some inaccuracies will occur))
1. Lost in the Sands

_Lost in the Sands_

A raging sandstorm swept over the desolate plains of Phobos. Four figures, four unlucky wanderers, caught in this black blizzard, were pressin onwards in search of a shelter.

Four warframes, controlled by four operators, safely hidden in the black void of space above Phobos. Their minds anchored to the bodies below, together forming a 'Tenno' - a master of gun and blade.

Stuck on this sandball, the four were unable to return to their ships. The heavy storm interfering with their ability to contact their ship's cephalon, and relay their location. Thus the only thing left to them was finding a shelter and waiting out the sandstorm.

An Ember warframe, mistress of all things fire, colored in bright red colours caught up to their leader - a completely white Frost warframe.

"Vaan, have you any idea where exactly are we heading?" she shouted, to be heard over the storm, for it was strong enough to interfere even with their short-range communications.

"Straight, Dala! Straight. Does it look like we have a big choice of where to go?" the paragon of winter shouted back. He was irritated, as their mission had failed. The target had escaped, they'd been driven into the desert by a whole goddamn platoon of Grineer Napalms, Bombards and Elite Troopers, and, to make matters worse, a storm of massive scale had arisen soon after. At least they'd lost their hunters.

The Ember let out a dissatisfied sight, and fell slightly back. The Mesa warframe, at the end of the line stopped, and soon after so did the Loki in front of her. The trickster looked back, as the sharpshooter was observing something to the right of the group. The Loki walked up to the woman and waited as she lifted her Vectis class sniper rifle.

After a moment she lowered it, looked at her squad-mate, and said:"Ruins. Tell Vaan."

The Loki gave her a thumbs-up and ran to catch up with the two Tenno in front. The other two had put a sizeable distance between them, but their bright colors stood out like a sore thumb, unlike the Loki, who always changed his colors, to fit the environment he was heading to.

A moment later though, the group had huddled together, and Shera, the Mesa, pointed towards the ruins, saying: "It's hard to make out, but there are some structures in the distance."

Vaan pulled out his Codex Scanner, and zoomed in on the approximate area where the Mesa had pointed. After a minute of searching, he noticed the scanner drawing an outline of some structure in the distance.

"Alright. Good job, Shera. Let's go, everyone!" the Frost said, and headed down the dune they had been standing on. The others followed, as the sandstorm buffeted them.

The path to the ruins was littered with steep slopes, and openings that led to desolate tunnels, abandoned long ago underneath the ever-shifting desert. Vaan tried his best to point out these and other dangers they came across, although once Zeifer, the Loki, managed to fall into one of these tunnels.

Other than that, the trek to the ruins was uneventful, albeit not easy. The sandstorm did not let up even for a bit, taxing both the bodies and the minds of the Tenno. The frames might be just shells, but the fact that the operators' consciousness was embedded in said shell, ensured that they felt every grain of sand pelting their shields.

Approximately an hour had passed since they spotted the ruins, when they finally arrived at them. Circling around the few structures peeking out of the sand, they soon spotted an entrance to tunnels below, and all of them quickly got in, sitting down a few steps away from the entrance.

"I swear… Treks like this, make me feel like Orokin pudding…" the Loki said after a moment of rest.

"Can it, Zei. We all feel like crap. Pointing that out does no good." Dala snapped at the trickster.

"Alright, cool it." Vaan interjected. "Let's see where this tunnel leads to. If we're lucky, might find something useful."

The Frost started down the tunnel, heading deeper into the darkness. The others groaned with displeasure, but seeing how Vaan had already made good headway, got up and followed the man.

They all soon turned on their flashlights, and the Mesa caught up with him, and tapped on his shoulder, drawing his attention.

And what if we're unlucky? I have no wish to deal with a swarm of Eximi, or yet another Manic." Shera stated her concerns.

"Relax. We've not heard or seen any Grineer in hours. So I doubt will find any here." the Frost shrugged.

"We've also been trekking through a dense storm out in the desert. Whereas this is a structure. And you know full well, that Grineer keep almost exclusively to their settlements." Shera pointed out.

"Hmm… fair point…" Vaan noted, and stopped. He drew his Cernos class bow, and proceeded forwards in silence. The others seeing this, prepared their weapons as well.

In a short while the tunnel grew lighter, and they found themselves in a spacious room, with light pouring in from the holes in the center of the pyramid-like ceiling. Sand was tossed in every now and then by the wind, but it was in miniscule amounts.

The walls were covered in carvings in a strange language, if it could be called that.

"This… ain't even remotely similar to any language in the Origin system." Zeifer stated, after inspecting the writing closer. It consisted of circles, joined with sharp-angled lines, organised in a seemingly vertical pattern.

"Hmm… well, this sure warrants investigation." Vaan let out a slight laugh, looking at Shera, and then addressed the others: "Spread out, and catalogue as much of the writing as possible. Look for repeated patterns or any specific symbols."

Dala and Zeifer looked confused for a moment, but hen nodded, put away their weapons, and produced their own Codex Scanners. They started to catalogue the walls, to the left and right of the entrance, and Shera headed to the opposite end of the room, while Vaan inspected the broken obelisk in the centre of the room.

They all soon noticed that one specific symbol stood out. It consisted of an upside down arc, atop a circle with lines extending from it's sides and bottom.

Zeifer ran his fingers over the sandstone, and came up on an indentation in the wall. He gave it a light press, and it revealed itself to be a button.

A loud crack echoed throughout the room, and everyone looked around for something happening, as the floor started shaking.

"Zei, what the hell did you do!?" Dala stormed up to the Loki that had frozen in terror.

"Wh… what makes you think it was me?" He stuttered.

"Because it's _always_ you. You either wander off, prank a guard or go around pushing random buttons…" Dala raised an accusative finger to the Loki's helmet, voicing her irritation.

"You have to agree, Zei. Dala _does_ have a point…" Vaan pitched in, having replaced his Scanner with the Cernos. The echoes filling the room sounded like massive gears grinding.

"I guess... " the Loki lowered his head. "... but my pranks _are_ funny!" he argued back.

"Psh… maybe to a child…" Dala scoffed, and drew her Ignis class flamethrower. The noise died down, and the trio looked around.

"Well, then your squad leader is a child... " Vaan let out a hearty laugh, and Zeifer joined in. "But you have to admit - that Napalm, stuck atop a radio tower was hilarious…"

"A moronic waste of time. Zei should have just teleported him over the edge of the platform and be done with it." Dala sounded disgruntled.

While the three were busy bickering, Shera had inspected a gap that had opened up nearly in front of her. She drew her Vectis and shone a light in the pitch-black tunnel. Not seeing anything dangerous, the Mesa crawled in, and rose to her feet. The walls in the tunnel were the same as outside, and she headed in a bit deeper, inspecting the writings.

A few steps later she stumbled on something, that turned out to be a tattered, red garment. Preoccupied with it, she did not notice the darkness and silence closing in around her.


	2. The Path Down: Reunion

**AN: sorry for the abysmally long hiatus. I have no excuses for it. Anyhow chapter 2.1 is up, and out heroes meet a resident of the ruins. I am going to try and publish the next chapter faster than this one.**

 **Without further ado - enjoy.**

 _The Path Down_

 _Reunion_

"You think she headed this way?" Dala asked the other two.

"It's the only way she could've gone…" Vaan pointed out the obvious, and went through the gap in the wall. The Ember followed through, with Zei remaining in the antechamber.

"C'mon, Zei… what are you waiting for?" the Frost beckoned the trickster to follow.

"What if she… headed back up?" Zeifer looked back at the entrance tunnel.

"Oh for… Zei, you now that's not true! Now move your ass." Dala expressed her impatience.

"Well…" the Loki uttered, casting a hard-light copy of himself next to the Frost. He switch teleported with it, and continued:"... this place… it feels… wrong…"

"Oh c'mon man… Don't tell me you are afraid of some old ruins!" the Frost laughed and gave the Loki an encouraging pat on the back.

The infiltrator looked at his feet, shifted them a bit and then let out a chuckle. "Yeah… sorry… I guess I let my imagination go wild for a bit."

"Now, let's find our missing vagabond!" Vaan commanded, with a cheery voice, and the others nodded in agreement.

The trio turned towards the darkness, prepared their weapons and lit their flashlights. The beams of light cut through the darkness, illuminating the tunnel walls. Made of the same sandstone as previously, the walls were covered in the same writings as the antechamber.

After a short while, the trio came upon tattered remains of red cloth, and, more importantly, tracks in the sand. It seemed as if something had been dragged along the tunnel floor recently.

"Not good… be on alert, watch for traps or any movement!" Vaan commanded, preparing an arrow. The Loki raised his twin Vasto revolvers, and the Ember prepared her Ignis flamethrower.

The Tenno continued forward at a slower pace, carefully examining the walls, floor and ceiling for any signs of traps. They continued in such a manner, until they came upon a "T" shaped crossing. Vaan and Dala continued to follow the tracks, and Zeifer turned around backpedaling after them, and keeping an eye on the other branching tunnel. His beam of light caught nothing but more inscribed walls and the darkness past the range of his flashlight. A minute later, he turned back around catching up to the duo, who had eased up slightly.

Four green dots lit up in the opposite tunnel, and a ghostly figure followed the three Tenno, without a sound. The thing kept it's distance, observing, and analyzing.

The Tenno soon reached a part where the tunnel sloped downwards, and at the bottom of the slope a familiar figure was lying in an unnatural position.

Zeifer quickly rushed down, and kneeled next to the Mesa, and lifting her up.

"Shera! What happened to you!?" the Loki exclaimed in a flash of panic.

The other two were right behind the Loki.

"Zei, her frame has been overloaded…" Dala placed a hand of the Loki's shoulder. "Alright, sleepyhead. Time to wake up. What put you down?"

The Mesa warframe's shields flared, and the trickster quickly placed her on the ground. The warframe grew brighter as the shields were overcharged, catalysing the dormant Technocyte virus within the frame, and making it repair any damage done to the body. The excess magnetic energy lifted the frame from the ground, and then was discharged in a radial energy blast. As the Mesa landed, she leaned back against the wall, and slid down grasping her head.

"Damn… We've stumbled on something big…" she muttered. "Like… this is… beyond anything we've faced before…"

"What… what do you mean by that? What happened? I mean, you just… vanished… without a sound… and then we find you here, knocked out…" Zeifer questioned the woman.

"I… was in the tunnel, connecting to the antechamber, and stumbled upon some tattered red cloth, that had odd signs on it." the Mesa recalled the events of the past 20 minutes. " And then… well… this is an odd bit - something 'struck' my frame, and knocked me out cold in less than a second."

"Wait… struck you? As in - struck _once_?Your shields should've absorbed the impact." Dala commented, her voice confused.

"I know, but… whatever it was, completely ignored the shields _and_ the outer layers of my frame." Shera replied, her voice indicating that she herself couldn't believe what she said.

"What…?" the trio expressed in unison. They were clearly taken aback by the news about such a threat.

"That… is impossible. Not even the most advanced Corpus prototypes can do that." Vaan expressed.

"Yeah, well… this is clearly miles above anything the Corpus has done. Whatever it was, managed to strike directly at the core of my frame. I just felt the blade materialise inside, and well… shred my insides." Shera placed her hands on her chest and looked down.

"Damn…" Vaan commented, being at a loss for words. "Did you manage to see what attacked you?"

"I think… It seemed mechanical, but moved with no sound… I'm not entirely sure what it was." The sharpshooter answered. "It might've been an advanced suit of armor, maybe…"

"Alright. Whatever dwells here, is hostile, and relies on stealth, and surprise attacks. That does not sound good for us." Dala pondered, looking down the tunnel ahead of the group.

The creature, that was following the group had drawn closer. I had been told to scrutinise the intruders, and to find out if the others would rise up after a well placed killing blow.

It slid down the ramp, producing no sound, and stopped at a striking distance from one of the intruders. The sand-colored figure in front of him showed no signs of noticing the assailant, and the Wraith drew it's blade, preparing to strike.

However the one it had struck before, noticed the creature, and made a sound, that caused the others to move away and produce their weapons with respectable haste.

It mattered little to the Wraith, as only four intruders could not be a match to it. It had taken out so many before.

The mechanical creature now took it's time scanning the intruders. These were different than the other, bulkier ones. Their form was closer resembling that of the Wraith's sleeping masters, than that of the previous group. Those had resembled an old enemy, that the Wraith had not encountered for eons.

The Wraith's scans were quick and precise. The group were apparently constructs, just like the Wraith, but unlike the Wraith, they seemed to possess a higher autonomy. There were some traces of energy linking the group to something distant, but it was weak. The Wraith dutifully relayed this message deeper, to it's superior.

Now it was time for the second task.

What stood before the Tenno, was an elegant and terrifying construct, resembling a spider, that used a long, mechanical tail, to move. It was easily towering over the group, and while being visibly robotic in nature, it's fluid, swaying motion would make one believe otherwise.

The machine was swaying back and forth and Dala leaned towards the Mesa, asking her:"Is this the thing that attacked you?"

The machine turned its optical sensors towards the Ember. Shera nodded, flipping her Regulator pistols from her underarm, to her hands.

"Maybe it.. maybe it was a misunderstanding? It's docile now." Zeifer said, lowering his twin Vasto pistols. The mechanical creature snapped it's stare to the Loki. The man, feeling uncomfortable under the mechanical gaze, stepped back.

As soon as he had shifted his feet, the creature lunged forwards, impaling the Loki with one of it's blades. There was no flare of shields, nor a spurt of Technocyte-infused blood, but Zeifer's frame status dropped to zero in the other's heads-up displays.

All of that happened in about half a second, but the Tenno still managed to open fire, before the Loki hit the ground. Dala started spraying acid-infused flames from her Ignis, and Shera let loose a volley of shots in a rapid succession, while Vaan took aim at the machine's optics with his Cernos, and let loose the flathead arrow.

The creature's top part faded, and the arrow passed through harmlessly and hit the slope behind it. However, it's talons and tail were licked by the acidic flames, and as it solidified again and tried to stab Dala, it's carapace was blasted by the Mesa's Regulator shots, as well as the unrelenting torrent of corrosive fire, causing substantial damage to it's protective shell, and exposing the systems underneath it.

Under the suppressive fire, the machine opted out to leave. And with that it became incorporeal, and slid backwards. Seeing their fire become ineffective, the two women stopped, and Dala quickly reloaded her flamethrower.

What all three Tenno saw was that the holes blasted in the machine's carapace were already starting to close, which caused a great deal of shock to the trio.

The incorporeal figure took a moment to scan the weapons of the group, and then, the damaged machine just turned to the side and slid through the wall.

The three active Tenno quickly ran to the spot where the machine had disappeared, as Zeifer triggered the resurrection sequence.

"Alright… Y'know what? Screw this. This is so out of our league that we are lucky to still be intact. I vote we leave and have Lotus seal this place off with… something." Zeifer exclaimed, holding a hand to his chest, where the blade had passed through.

Dala voiced her agreement with Zeifer, only to be silenced by Vaan.

"We're not leaving. We _can't_ leave. There's nothing that we can report about this threat. Besides, we don't know if the enemy is mobilising, or did we just stumble on a guard patrol." the group leader pointed out.

"But a single one of them being resistant to attacks and capable of disabling a Tenno by bypassing their shields and armor? And what will we do if there's more than one?" Dala offered a counter argument.

"Then we improvise." the Frost said, heading on deeper in the tunnel.


	3. The Path Down: Silence

**AN: Chapter 2.2, is locked and loaded. Nothing much happens here, but we can't always dance the dance of high-octane gunfights, now can we? Or maybe we can?**

 **Enjoy!**

 _The Path Down_

 _Silence_

"Shera… Where's your rifle?" Zeifer asked his teammate, after a good while of pondering what exactly was different about her. The vagabond was missing her gun, that she almost never let out of her hands.

"Oh, uhhh… It's a bit difficult to explain. All I know that it is missing, but I have no idea who'd have taken it." the woman looked back at him, as they were trekking through the desolate tunnels.

Since the encounter it had all been silent, and the only actual indication that they are not rounding the same sharp corner over and over, was that the sand had given way to a black, monolithic stone.

"What'dya mean?" Dala joined their conversation.

"There was… a sort of skittering around me, after I was downed. Like an endless horde of tiny bugs moving all around me." Shera shuddered, at the memory. "That, and something or someone was calling me deeper."

"Calling you? Like… by name?" Dala started prodding.

"No. Not by name. I can't say that whoever it was used actual words. I just got this strong sense to get up and head deeper, along this path that we are taking." Shera explained.

Vaan stopped suddenly, and Dala bumped into him, cursing loudly. The Frost silenced her with a finger, and pointed forwards. The scenery had slightly changed. After a long winding path downwards, they had reached an antechamber of sorts. It was clearly visible that there were at least three more pathways out of it.

He silently turned to Shera and whispered:"When you said that you heard skittering, was it, by chance, the same as that one, audible ahead of us?"

The others focused their hearing and did indeed pick up a rhythmic, metallic skittering coming from the left hand tunnel. Under Vaan's guidance, the cell slowly advanced, preparing their weapons.

Four beams of light lit up the tunnel, only to reveal nothing aside from the engraved stone surfaces. The group moved forward slowly, and Vaan holstered his bow, and lifted his hands in a pseudo-defensive stance. The Kogake class kinetic enhancers, fastened to his knuckles and feet, flared up as the Frost channeled his suit's energy through them.

The skittering came from a doorway on the right side of the tunnel. The four Tenno swiftly took place on either side of the portal, and Shera flipped out her Regulator pistols.

"On the count of three, I'll open with an Ice Wave, and you three immediately follow up by opening fire." Vaan transmitted his plan text, appearing on the other's heads-up display.

"One."

"Two."

"Three!"

The white warframe swiftly rotated around the corner, channeling his energy into his right fist, striking the ground with it, and causing an eruption of sharp blade-like icicles covering most of the room like a frozen wave. Without losing a second, he rolled backwards and Dala took his place opening fire with her Ignis. Shera and Zeifer took place on either side of the Ember and paused for a second.

Their hud lit up with countless bug-like machines the size of dinner plates. Some of them already were heading towards the group, and they seemed to move over each other and the ones that had been disabled by the preliminary attack. Both the trickster and the gunslinger started taking careful shots, in as rapid a succession as possible. It, however, was not enough, and soon the machines were upon them, their bladed legs swiftly damaging the trio's shields.

"Careful everyone, I'm starting an Avalanche!" Vaan shouted, and rose his hand, to cast the most potent of his abilities. He pooled the remainder of his energy into his right hand again, and pulled it down in a swift motion. The energy traveled through him, and expanded in a shockwave of near-zero temperature wave, freezing a large portion of the bug machines. The ones unaffected still surged forward, but the total number of them was severely diminished.

However the firefight drained the team's resources, and Shera soon ran out of energy. She cursed loudly, and reached over to Zeifer grabbing one of his Fang daggers, Just in time to pull it in front of a Scarab leaping at her. The machine impaled itself on the blade, and the force of it's assault made Shera stumble backwards. Noticing a break in the Tenno's line of fire, the remaining beetle bots targeted Shera, only to be stopped by swift punches from Vaan.

Both Dala and Zeifer had run out of ammo too, and resorted to melee, the Loki using his remaining Fang Dagger and Dala drawing her Heat Sword and Dagger. The melee was short, but even the remaining dozen beetles managed to tear down the shields of the frames and damage their structure.

Punching the final machine mid-leap into the nearby wall, Vaan sighed.

"Well... That was something. Zei, can you scan and catalogue these things?" the cryomancer asked, leaning against the wall. The Loki nodded, picked one of the more intact bots up and started examining it, while Shera headed into the room. Aiming her flashlight at the furthest wall, she saw a row of odd metallic statues. They were shaped similar to an Orokin skeleton, if it was coated in metal and layered in protective plates. The statues' ribcage was oddly exposed, compared to it's arms and legs, and housed some odd tubes. Shera guessed they were meant to imitate intestines, though she could not fathom why.

The Mesa got closer and ran her hand over one of the statues. She noticed that the crest on the statues' sternum possessed a faint green glow, but her gaze was quickly drawn to the odd looking rifle at it's side. It had an odd glasslike barrel, housing a thin, greenish line in it, an axe bayonet and seemed to have no clip. As she picked it up, the statues' head shifted slightly towards her. This made the Mesa swiftly retreat a few steps.

"Huh. Must've jostled it…" she sighed, turning around and inspecting the odd gun closer. A light green pulsating light came from the vents on the main body of it. She took aim at the closest disabled beetle bot and opened fire. The glass barrel lit up and spat out a stream of bright green lightning. This came as a surprise to her, and naturally - her squad, who were not expecting gunfire, and she swiftly released the trigger.

"Sorry, guys…" the woman apologized and knelt down to inspect her 'victim'.

"Yeah, warn us next time, will you? I'd say we're under enough stress as is." Dala scowled at the Mesa.

"Hey, I said, I'm sorry. Didn't expect the gun to actually work…" she retorted.

"What is that gun anyways?" the pyromancer inquired.

"Dunno for sure. Shot lightning, but instead of frying this bug, or blasting it, it seems to have chewed a hole in it." Shera lifted up the scarab she had shot. "Maybe it would do the same to that wraith-thing we fought earlier."

"Wraith?" Vaan chuckled at the word.

"Well, yeah. It could become incorporeal and slip through walls… seems fitting to call it like that." Shera answered with a nervous chuckle of her own.

"By the way - bugs seem to be a smaller version of the 'wraith'. Their internal electronics are ridiculously advanced for what seems to be a scavenger bot." the Loki looked up from the bot he'd dissected. "These 'scarabs' also lack the self repair function that the 'wraith' had. And thank the Lotus for that. Judging from the number here… they are deployed en masse, or have a steady supply of replacement bugs…"

The other three Tenno looked at the trickster, and the distress this realisation made was almost palpable. Each of the Tenno shifted uncomfortably, and checked their weapons, trying to catch an early sound that would warn them of more 'scarabs' approaching.

"I suggest we retreat back to the tunnel we came from and take a moment to rest." Vaan spoke up, and headed out of the room and back to the first tunnel.

"Alright, who's up for lookout duty?" Dala encouragingly exclaimed.

"You?" Zeifer chuckled, earning a flame-wreathed single digit gesture.

The group set up on the slope and Dala sighed, staying nearer the door to the antechamber. While Vaan told Zei and Shera to just 'do something to focus themselves on anything but here', the scarlet pyromancer shone her flashlight in the opposite tunnel.

Dala cursed under her breath. The stress was getting to her. She could've sworn she felt the distant beat of marching feet in the silent sepulchral air.


	4. Underneath: Darkness

**AN: Let's have a look-see of what lurks deep down below. Thanks for all the faves and reviews, guys and gals. They really mean a lot and encourage working on the story.**

 **Underneath: Darkness**

"Finally. After all these years I am finally alive." A mechanical voice droned, as it's owner rose from the elevated throne. There was movement in front of him, as others, similar in form, but less armored and less ornate converged in the area beneath the structure.

"Lychguard! To me!" He commanded, no louder than he spoke, but the order carried far, and all of his subjects could hear it. Soon after, three soldiers, clad in heavy, ornate armor, walked up towards Him.

"Has the Cryptek been awoken? I would like to survey my domain with him accompanying me."

"Yes, Phaeron! The Cryptek was one of the first ones to rise. He has been busy ever since. He would not disclose what he was working on, however." one of the three spoke. His voice was slightly muffled by the heavy collar, but it still bore the monotone emotionless drone, not unlike that of the Phaeron.

"Good." the Phaeron stated and headed off with the Lychguard, to find the Cryptek. The Phaeron expected to find the technomancer inspecting the systems of the Tomb Complex, but decided to pass by the structure that the Cryptek had claimed as his workshop.

"No, no, no… Bad little puppets…" the hunched over figure muttered, as it was peering over countless monitors, each displaying some section of the massive complex. On one of the monitors four figures were slowly moving through the corridors. The camera followed them, gliding slowly backwards, keeping them in focus.

"What is the reason of your frustration, Cryptek?" the Phaeron asked, after a moment of sileht observation from the aperture, towering over the hunched mechanist. The Lychguard were ever vigilant a few paces behind their liege, remaining outside of the structure.

"Phaeron! I am glad to see you awoken once more." the Cryptek turned around slowly and, holding on to his Data Stave, bowed. After greeting the royal, he turned back to his screens, and pointed at the group of intruders.

"A most peculiar group. These creatures bear the form of many bipeds, and indeed are flesh and bone, with some circuitry-" the Cryptek started to lay out his findings, but was interrupted.

"Have them exterminated. We have no time to admire inferior creatures." the Phaeron coldly stated.

"No, I will not, Ozrahkan. They are unique enough to warrant a study…" the Cryptek straightened and thumped his stave lightly against the floor.

"You are pushing the limits of your liberties, Cryptek. I will not suffer such tone from my subordinates. You have been warned." Ozrahkan lifted his warscythe towards the technomancer in front of him.

"Ozrahkan, they are machines. Their minds are elsewhere. These intruders are just husks, tethered to somewhere out among the stars." the Cryptek moved the blade to the side, and took a step forward. "This could lead to a breakthrough that we've been looking for."

The Phaeron lowered his weapon, and pondered such news for a moment. Then he lifted the blade back into a resting position, and nodded to the Cryptek.

"Alright, Szaretoth. I'll allow you to track them down and perform any studies you deem necessary. But only because of the implications that you presented. See to it that you do not fail to live up to them." the Phaeron turned to leave, and motioned the Lychguard to follow. Apparently he was to inspect the Complex without his oldest supporter.

Leaving the workshop of the Cryptek, Ozrahkan cast a glance around, and after a moment of silent analysis, headed towards the core of the tomb complex. Along the way he inspected a few tombs, to check up on their systems. Since his troops had not yet seen active combat after awakening, and no natural disasters had struck the vast majority of the subterranea, there were only a few individuals undergoing maintenance.

More often than not the Phaeron found the scarabs responsible for repairs patching minor structural imperfections of their maintenance crypts.

Ozrahkan intercepted a Tomb Spyder, that was seemingly floating on the spot, doing nothing, and addressed it.

"What is your current task?"

" ## /== /% /!-###/ # " the machine answered in with a data packet transmission, that was audible only as dissonant static noise.

"Very good. If I recall correctly, we were to have a wraith or two posted in the upper layers of the entrance maze, am I right?"

"###/ %#% /## !& "

"How did these intruders get past it then, if the Cryptek is now obsessed with studying them?"

"#$ $"

"Wonderful. Just what we needed. Send a squad to the eastern tunnels, and have them greet the intruders, when they reach the outer complex."

"$#- - /$#$#-#$$ "

Satisfied with the exchange, Ozrahkan headed onwards, as the Spyder behind him turned around, and started to look for footsoldiers to form into a squad.

One of the Lychguard advanced towards the Phaeron and asked a question with a bow.

"Phaeron, I know it is not my place to question your orders, but why not send one of us to assist with the silent ones?"

"Are you that eager to distance yourself from me? And you are right, it is not your place to question me. I would appreciate if this was the first and the last of such an incident."

"Yes, Phaeron. My apologies." the Lychguard fell back in line with his two peers, who expressed something akin to chuckles. The shamed Lychguard just glared at them, as best as his expressionless face would allow.

Ozrahkan had reached the outermost defenses of the Tomb Complex, right before the entrance of the vast network of tunnels that spread out around it, it's pathways twisting and turning. Without a proper map, or a preprogrammed knowledge of where to go, one could easily spend years trying to navigate the mazelike caves.

"Szarethot. How is it that these intruders got here? The eastern tunnels still lie silent." Ozrahkan asked the technomancer via a long range data transfer. It would take a small moment for the message to reach it's target, and a while more before the answer.

No matter. The Phaeron had time to spare, waiting for an explanation. He patiently peered into the dark tunnels, as his trusty Lychguard drew closer, their weapons now kept in a tight grip, ready to strike.

Intruders or no, his Crownworld, Araxis, was waking up. The Vexhi dynasty will soon once more claim it's place among the stars.


	5. Underneath: Re-awakening

**AN: Don't you just hate it when a story is nothing but words...?**

 _Underneath: Re-awakening_

 _\- An hour prior -_

As the Cell rested, the tension diminished. They were all together, and despite the two unpleasant encounters, were in an overall good shape.

"So, a Lancer, a Crewman and a Tenno walk into a bar-..." Zeifer spoke up.

"Zei, we've heard this one. If two bar jokes and a few stabs at Grineer inadequacy is all you've got, you might as well give up on your dream of being a stand-up comedian." Dala pointed out and chuckled.

"Hey, it's not all I've got. I just don't want to use my best ones on such a small audience." the Loki responded and took mock offence.

"We're the only audience you've ever had, wise guy." Vaan laughed at the trickster.

The tunnels had been dead silent, apart from the sensation of marching feet, so nothing could prepare the Tenno for what happened next. The group got up and headed back into the chamber, only for the floor to fade out from underneath them.

Before anyone could react they were plummeting towards a shimmering green vortex. The Loki managed to put a decoy image of himself on the ledge and switched places with it.

"Fuck! FUCK THIS IS BAD! What-..." Zeifer's despair was cut short by a lone damaged scarab launching itself at the Tenno's face and knocking him back down the chasm, and subsequently vanishing in the acid green portal.

One of the skeletal statues stood on the opposite edge. It's vibrant green eyes showed no emotion, but visibly tracked the victims of the trap, until they vanished.

The four Tenno awoke all piled up on the stony floor of a natural looking cave tunnel.

Confusion was palpable between the group but they silently got up and scouted the nearby area, before huddling at their landing point.

"Alright. This is really bizarre…" Vaan scratched the back of his head. "looks like we've been dropped deeper down the complex, but that should be impossible. Phobos isn't big enough to house anything this size."

"Simple... " Shera spoke up "either whoever we're up against possesses techniques to create massive pocket dimensions… Or we've been transported elsewhere."

There was a heavy silence hanging in the air for a moment afterwards, as everyone realised what exactly this meant. If either of the implications were true, it meant that they were dealing with a genuinely alien threat. That, despite looking like some offshoot Orokin clan, these humanoids had originated elsewhere, and were wholly unrelated to the Origin system.

"Ok… Alright. If they are… were… from outside the Origin system, that might explain the disparity of the tech, compared to ours." Vaan said, pacing back and forth. "Let's… Let's find something to bring back to the Lotus and find our way out of here. If any of them are alive somewhere, I'd rather try a diplomatic approach, before resorting to hostilities."

The others nodded, prepared their weapons, and the quartet moved forward silently. No one had a wish to argue, as the possible threat they faced was too large to be distracted from by what could amount to a petty squabble.

"They were brought here by an Eternity Gate, my Phaeron. The gate's tether point is the outpost orbiting Mag'ladroth's tomb. It seems it has been reactivated." came the answer to Ozrahkan. The Phaeron clenched his fist tighter, and growled, as much as his voice allowed him.

"Agents of the Dragon. Now we absolutely must take them alive, and drain even the tiniest scrap of information from them." the Phaeron responded.

"My Liege, based on the communication between these creatures, they are not aware of the Dragon. They did however mention something called a "Lotus", and expressed an intent to bring back something from our… your glorious Tomb Complex…" Szarethot sent another reply.

"Are you saying, that they have the intention to steal from me as well? How very disappointing… No matter, as soon as they'll arrive, I shall bring one to interrogate." the Phaeron stated, his circuitry alight, plotting on further actions.

"Only one? What about the rest?" Szarethot was confused by Ozrahkan's conflicting statements.

"Yes. Only one. You will have to monitor the rest, for the time being. Or send one of the Tomb Stalkers to shepard them." The Phaeron said, just as a platoon of warriors arrived, with a Canoptek Spyder trailing close behind the silently marching troops.

The cell was advancing forward at a steady pace. There had been sounds echoing from behind them, that the group was not all too keen on identifying.

"Vaan, whatever it is, it's shepherding us. Clearly we are being driven not chased!" Dala voiced her protest against them running. She grabbed the Frost and forced him to turn around. "Don't just blindly run into a trap! We have to do so-..."

Before she could finish her sentence, however, a giant metallic centipede erupted from the ground, grabbing Dala and smashing her into the tunnel's ceiling, before vanishing again. Oddly enough, it did not leave entry or exit holes in the solid stone.

All of this happened within a couple of seconds, before the others could react. Dala slumped to the ground, her warframe status on flat zeroes. The operator of the frame was fuming, stuck in limbo. She took a moment to gather herself, before burning one of her four technocyte catalysts. The spherical capsule, located within the warframe, let out a Technocyte generated electrical wave, that revitalised the passive Technocyte tissue of the Warframe, overcharged the shields and let out an electromagnetic shockwave… followed up by the Ember's own shockwave of scorching flame.

"This is utter bullshit! Vaan, we are getting out of here! I do not care if Lotus would need the goddamn head of a dead emperor, or whatever, we. Are. OUTCLASSED! We are beyond any capability to fight against the lone sentries! What if there's a standing army, just waiting for us deeper down!?" she angrily exclaimed, stomping her foot down.

Vaan simply looked at her, before delivering a forceful backhand slap, knocking the pyromancer down. "Pull yourself together. If you are that eager to leave, disconnect, and leave your Warframe here."

"Maybe I will!" Dala rose up, clenching her fists.

"That would be a bad idea, Dala…" Shera stepped up and interjected. "Zeifer has been analyzing the scans of the beetle bots we destroyed. It is clear that whoever lives… or lived, here knew technology on an unimaginably deep level…"

"Yes, Shera, that much is obvious… I think you don't need Zei's analytical skills to discern that." Dala interjected sharply.

"Cool it, matchstick. You didn't let her finish. The construction of the bots bears some similarity to the biological bugs found in the origin system." Zeifer cut in, shutting Dala up.

"Aaaand…?" Vaan pitched in, now interested in the findings.

"It means that they also have a considerable knowledge of biology. If they can use principles of mechanics and biology combined…"

The elemental duo just stared at Zei, their confusion clearly palpable.

"You… you don't get it, right?" the Loki let disappointment heavily coat his words. The silent answer was on par with the perplexed stares.

"Ughh… Warframes are tools of war, made by employing the principles of mechanics, biology and a fair dose of unexplained arcana. The sentries here are built by employing unknown materials, with their components organised in accordance to biological laws, and are granted the ability to completely ignore physics." Zeifer slowly explained, using excessive gesticulation, as if he was trying to communicate something to a Kubrow pup.

"Sooo… what you're saying… is?" Dala was too annoyed to piece the puzzle pieces together.

"I'd guess, that what Zei means is that by principle, these sentries are our equivalents. Only whoever made them had much more time to perfect their creation." Shera did it for her flaming squadmate.

"Quite accurate, Shera." Zei nodded. Vaan meanwhile had taken a few steps back towards where they'd been driven from. The metallic centipede was gone, and so were the sounds it made. However, now a rhythmic marching approached the cell.

"Guess the original dwellers are still very much present here." He turned around and hurried down the tunnel. "Let's go. We're sitting ducks in this tunnel, and by the sounds of it there's too many of them to take on in the open, if things go sour."

"Vaan, their sentries have been actively attacking us… I'm pretty sure things are as sour as they get." Shera pointed out.

"Let's not forget that to any and all automated sentries we are nothing more than intruders. And the marching sounds like that of highly trained troops than a ramshackle militia. These people have seen war and have prepared for war. Until we have some leverage, we are nothing but simple targets. Ergo, in my opinion, things seem much worse, than they are." was Vaan's well constructed argument, that reeked of unbased hopes like a wharf smells of fish.

Shera found it folly to argue further. And neither Dala nor Zeifer had anything to add to the exchange. In semi-silent trudge onwards, the group soon found the tunnel widening. A barely perceivable green glow came from ahead, as the marching foot noises echoed behind them. It sounded as if the original group of pursuers had multiplied and scattered throughout the adjoining tunnels.


	6. City of Silence: Ghosts

**AN: [Insert flimsy excuse for delayed update here]. As always - thank you for reading, if you do. And hopefully you find it enjoyable.**

Ozrahkan stood motionless, his thoughts running over scenarios, calculating the various possibilities, and different outcomes of the possible actions.

He could have the squadron simply open fire into the tunnel opening, frying and flaying the four children of the Dragon. But another squadron from the secondary stasis complex was arriving right behind them. It would be unfavorable to cause damage to his own troops over just 4 intruders. Besides, this would most likely destroy them all.

Alternatively he might wait for them and trap them in a circle with both the standing force and the approaching detachment and then take them out with a concentrated Gauss barrage. They would fire back, and maybe put up a fight, but would succumb eventually. Then he could simply pluck a survivor and take him back to Szarethot.

However this could also destroy them all, as the Gauss flayer wasn't exactly known for maintained pinpoint accuracy. This also, all in all, wasn't an ideal solution. It would then be difficult, or, knowing the capabilities of the Dragon, downright impossible to extract any solid information from the shredded remains.

After some more pondering, the Phaeron finally decided on a course of action. And just in time, as he could make out four silhouettes moving in the depths of the tunnel.

He sent a silent order for the troops to move out in an arc around the entrance, as well as one for the legion in the tunnels to keep a cautionary distance from the 4 intruders, but remain close enough that their presence would be unmistakable and slightly threatening.

All what was left was for the trap to be sprung.

The four Tenno, moving forwards, noticed that the marching steps kept pace with them, staying at a constant distance away from them.

"Vaan… what. Do. We. Do?" Dala sounded just about ready to turn around and fling herself at the enemy in a blind kamikaze run.

Vaan kept silent, and in his ponderings he remembered about the scanner he had. He stopped and pulled it out. The marching behind them ceased as well.

"Scanners out guys…" He simply said after a while of silence and his voice was flat and featureless.

The trio produced their own scanners and looked through them. It took a moment for the tech to identify anything based on motion, and composition.

The first lit up the orange silhouettes of hunched over humanoid figures, marching in perfect unison away from the group till they passed out of the active scan range. However they were not the only ones, as based on the data gathered from a surface scan, new targets lit up.

A row of single-file soldiers stood about 40 meters from the group, however they were obscured by the mix of darkness and the soft green glow from ahead. In front of them were 3 similar, yet bulkier figures, and ahead of those, another one, that seemed more imposing the others.

What none of the Tenno expected was for the figure to raise his hand, and obviously hail the four warframes.

"I'd say we've walked into quite the hornet's nest… and seems like the nest is well aware of our presence." Vaan stated, taking a step forward, before Dala grabbed his arm and berated the Frost.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" with incredulity in her voice. "Are you really just gonna go out there like that? We'd do best to scatter and try and make our way back. Now it's beyond clear that we can't do anything."

"I could try and sneak up on the group and see if I can find an alternate way around. There seems to be a cavern further on." Zeifer proposed an idea. Vaan looked at the Loki for a while, the silence weighing heavily on the group.

"Ok… ok… just - don't be too reckless. We'd do best to prolong this strange ceasefire." Vaan concluded. His voice was laden heavy with shame. He understood that they will most likely have to abandon their frames, and desync back to their orbiters, and that it was mostly due to him insisting on delving deeper… But it wasn't completely hopeless. The strange masters of the subterranean crypt seemed in no hurry to attack them. The cryomancer leaned against the tunnel wall, sinking in though, while staring in back from the way they came. It almost seemed like countless green eyes were soullessly peering at him.

Meanwhile Zeifer had gone invisible and crept forth, as the two female warframes engaged in aimless banter, to dilute the anxiety.

"You've been awfully quiet almost all this time, Shera. What's the matter?" Dala asked, regularly casting frantic glances at the entrance of the tunnel. Her Ignis flamethrower twitched in her hands, and the Ember was visibly on edge. And no one could blame her.

"Been thinking… It doesn't all add up…" Shera said, running a repeated inspection of the strange weapon she'd snagged. Now that they were in some form of stalemate, she had time to go over it again.

"This gun… It's like if we took Amprex and amplified it by a factor of ten. And it requires no ammo as far as I can tell. There isn't a single opening for a power cord, a battery pack, or a microreactor." she went over her observations, handing the gun to Dala, so she could take a closer look at it. "This sort of technology, seemingly given to low rank and file soldiers and even left with their effigies… IF whoever dwells here can afford to throw away such technology, they definitely have something even more impossible in their arsenal."

"Ok, and I can attest that no one… not a single Tenno in the Origin system has seen something like this…" Dala held the gun, and realised that it emanated a barely perceptible buzz of stored energy. None of her personal acquaintances or the largest clans had ever spoken about anything similar to this weapon.

"Exactly. Yet it seems like it was treated as a basic… I dunno… Braton…" Shera commented further. "So how come a faction with such firepower has never laid claim on the Origin system, or even just kept an active presence over Phobos?"

It didn't seem logical for someone of this technological prowess to be locked away deep underground. A singular entity or a reclusive group of five-ten such masters could be understandable, but not a seemingly vast army, with sentries and an active militia in place.

"Shit…" A crackling exclamation came through the comms channels, as the three Tenno in the tunnel swiftly looked towards where Zeifer was supposed to be.

Zeifer let a surge of Void energy through his Warframe, making it invisible in the majority of the light spectrum. The only giveaway were ripples of his suit's energy shifting across the surface of it. However as far as it had been tested and observed, only other Warframes could track this energy, so he was not worried. His specific suit modifications allowed for over half a minute of sustained invisibility. Sometimes it was more than enough, but the Loki wasn't all too sure about it today. He closed the gap, counting seconds.

Five down, thirty to go.

The Loki observed their welcoming party. The shock of what he saw was like being struck by Lech Kril's hammer.

The "people" were identical to the statues they saw in the tunnels above. The singular difference was that these skeletal figures had green glowing eyes. And, of course, they were not in an upright mortuary pose. The trickster took note that four of them were significantly more ornate than the rest, standing behind them. He also noted the utter stillness of these people. A shudder ran over his back.

Twenty to go.

Zeifer shook off the surprise, looking around himself, and trying to find a valid way through. There was a ledge that he could switch teleport with his decoy, and in reverse, bring others up the same way. But that would only be possible if there was no possibly hostile squad of metallic skeletons five steps from him.

Fifteen to go.

He turned around to head back, and almost ran into a Wraith, that had silently appeared behind him. He cursed under his breath, and moved to the side, to pass around it, but the Wraith seemed to perceive the Loki. He silently cursed again.

Ten to go. And here he lost count.

"Stranger… Child of Dragon… I may not be able to see you, but my servant informs me of your presence." A monotone voice behind the Loki said. It was mechanical, yet carried a tone of authority, that seemed uncanny to the mechanical appearance of the inhabitants of this place.

Zeifer looked up at the optics of the Wraith, and realised that they were moving ever so subtly along with his own every move. He swallowed hard, and turned around, facing the speaker. It was the richly adorned individual, he had noticed before.

The invisibility ran out, and Loki cursed:"Shit…"

The speaker turned his head slightly, and nodded. "Intentional or not, that is much better. I prefer to have whoever I am speaking with, to inhabit the same light spectrum as I am."

"Would you please call over your siblings?" The figure did a sweeping motion, his emerald green gaze locked on the Loki.

However, the invitation was unneeded, as the trio burst forth from the tunnel, weapons raised.


	7. City of Silence: Shadows

**AN: Hello, hello? Anyone still alive? If you are - hey, nice. So am I (apparently). As usual - thanks for reading, sorry for the hiatus, and enjoy the new chapter. Feel free to yell at me for massive upload gap/inconsistency/spelling/how your day is not going all too well. :D**

 _The City of Silence_

 _Shadows_

"Zeifer, fall back." Vaan commanded. He was calm-voiced but an ever so slight twitch in his posture betrayed his nervousness. Dala was gripping her weapon hard, the strain of her muscles giving the flamethrower a jittering sway. Not that it would matter much.

Shera kept a loose grip on the rifle she had picked up. Her eyes however were darting around, her body ready to snap into a firing position, on even the slightest provocation.

Meanwhile, the figure before them calmly rose his free hand and stated:"Do not be alarmed, Children of the Dragon. I merely wish to speak with you, for now…"

His voice - a completely flat monotone, completely devoid of any intonation, was unsettling to the Tenno.

"You speak kindly, but your armed welcome, and active assault on our way here seem to prove otherwise." Vaan spoke up, slightly lowering his bow.

"What the hell are you doing, Vaan? It's a-..." Dala started her rant in a private channel, but immediately stopped. She was not one hundred percent sure, but the Ember could've sworn that the green glow of their _host's_ eyes shifted ever so slightly towards her.

"Yeah, but whatever your plan is, we probably can't do better than this. We are not being shot at, and that's a good enough start for diplomacy as you can get." Vaan responded on the private channel, hoping that this little mute mimicking wouldn't offend the royal.

He was in for a hefty surprise however.

"Indeed. Your leader speaks wise." the royal denoted. "As for the… _assault…_ as you call it - that was merely the autonomous sentries acting upon their defense protocols."

Vaan slowly turned his head. The other three Tenno were just as dumbfounded. They had no privacy between them, as the enemy was fully aware of their communications.

"You… heard that?" Vaan asked incredulously. The question was mostly to himself, but he was swiftly proven how true the cell's collective though was - they were allowed not a single misplaced word.

"Was I not supposed to?" came an answer from the metal being. Shera could swear there was amusement in the flat monotone voice. She shifted uncomfortably, and noticed one of the shield-carrying figures 'tense up', if the phrase could be attributed to solid metal constructs. Almost as if he was keeping a close eye on her, akin to what she was doing.

"Let us end this silly standoff. I am Ozrahkan, phaeron of the Vexhi dynasty, and this is my crown world. The shining blue gem of this planetary system - Araxis." the phaeron seemed to exude pride, at disclosing his name and title, along with praising his crownworld.

For a second the Tenno were stumped. It seemed like an awfully jarring tone-shift. Then, Vaan relaxed (accompanied by a hiss from Dala) and bowed slightly.

"I am not familiar with either your title, or the planet's name, but we are grateful for the chance to learn of it. I am Vaan, and these are my comrades - Zeifer, Dala and Shera."

As each of the three were introduced, they stiffly nodded, save for Dala, who defiantly stared at the phearon. Ozrahkan seemed to not care. However it was near impossible to tell with his expressionless skull peering back at her.

"Stubborness in the presence of a royalty. It would be admirable, if it didn't stem from ignorance." the Phaeron concluded, and dismissed it with a casual wave of his hand.

This slight only worked to tick Dala off even more, albeit she did her best to restrain herself. She clenched her hand muttered something, that sounded a lot like furious cursing.

The Phaeron stood still for a moment, as if eyeing the group and then turned his back on them.

"Come. I feel amicable, and thus will show you around, before expelling you as transgressors." Ozrahkan waved, and set forth. The Tenno were half-corralled to follow him, as the three shield-bearers took on position behind the cell.

Confused and on edge, the four followed. Even Vaan, who was the most positively dispositioned towards the original inhabitants felt a strong sense of unease.

The rest of the troops seemed to disperse silently. There was a noticeable lack of any form of interaction between them. As if they were mere puppets. But the shieldbearers seemed to hold a form of vigor in their motions, undetectable in the common foot soldiers. There was determination in their gait.

The group advanced forth, and soon, the Tenno saw the first structures out of the complex. The squat, semi-buried pyramids seemed to have just enough room for one or two of the skeletal figures, and most of them were visibly inactive, while some were tended to by the same type of beetle that the Tenno had fought.

"Excuse me… Ozrahkan…?" Zeifer spoke up observing the beetles. Out of the corner of his periphery he saw the closest shieldbearer move slightly towards him, but he fell back in line just a second after.

"Yes, child of the Dragon? What is it?" Ozrahkan paused and looked back at the Loki.

Still keeping his eyes on the beetles, the Loki asked: "What… uh, is the purpose of those beetles?"

The Phaeron turned to face the Loki, who resisted the urge to turn invisible. For a moment he simply stared down the frame, with Zeifer growing more and more nervous. However, soon the Phaeron let up and asked a counterquestion.

"Why do you ask, child of the Dragon?" Ozrahkan's voice, as always monotone, still left a strange impression.

"Well - it's beyond anything that we have encountered thus far. Nothing that I've seen comes close to them, and I regularly sabotage or steal projects or blueprints from both Corpus and the Grineer…"

The Phaeron seemed thoughtful. He even took on a pose akin to a man pondering what he'd heard. The fluid, subtle motions as he gazed slightly upwards for a moment were incredibly uncanny in conjunction with his automata body.

"Well… these specific ones are geared for maintenance and scavenging. If you are interested, I'm sure Szaretoth would be happy to exchange information with you." the Phaeron motioned one of the Lychguard to move up. The shield-bearer silently obeyed.

"Escort our guest to the Cryptek. Make sure that he comes under no harm on his way there and back." Ozrakhan continued.

"I'll tag along! I'd like to know how this gun works." Shera stepped up, and lifted the alien weapon.

"I will have to ask you to return that to the Cryptek. But yes, Szaretoth will be able to explain the principles of our weaponry." Ozrakhan nodded, and motioned the two Tenno to follow the Lychguard.

Without the ability to converse between themselves, without prying ears listening in, the group of Tenno split up with a nod. Ozrakhan gazed as they left, and then turned to the other two.

"You, children of the Dragon, are not local to my star system… I know that you hail from one of the systems closer to the galactic centre. Thus I would like to exchange some information with you myself. What can you tell me of the planet called Mars?" he asked, finally voicing his demand towards the Tenno.


	8. Accursed Ascension: Enigma

**AN: Hey look! An update that didn't take countless months to write. And it's not three sentences! Woo! As always - enjoy, and don't be shy to leave a review, if you're into that, of course...**

 _Accursed Ascension: Enigma_

"So… Do you have a name?" Zeifer asked the shieldbearer that escorted him and Shera to whatever a Cryptek was. From the brief designation the Phaeron had given to the mysterious servant of his, Zeifer guessed that a "Cryptek" was something akin to a chief engineer.

"You are not worthy of knowing my name, spawn of the Dragon." the Lychguard stated in his sepulchral monotone. "Be thankful that my Lord did not order to execute you on the spot."

Despite the flatness of the voice, both Shera and Zeifer could not miss the radiating contempt and hate of the words.

"Hey, what's with the hate? Sure we're trespassers, but you sound like we murdered your family. And what's with the 'children of Dragon' thing?" Zeifer launched a series of questions. "We are known as Children of the Lotus, but Lotus is hardly a dragon…"

The only answer that the Loki received was a monotone sigh. Even the deathless are bound to suffer in the company of an inquisitive fool.

"... no answer?" the trickster replied in kind with a sigh of his own. The solemn gait of the Lychguard spoke for itself.

While Zeifer pestered their escort with his questions, the gunslinger tried her best to keep track of their route. It was not an easy one as each stony hillock was the nearly same as the last. There was a gradual upwards incline however, and she had placed a waypoint in her heads-up display at the point where the cell split. She could imagine Dala sneering at her archaic approach to tracking, but Shera knew that the only reliable information, was the one seen and felt by the body, as technology could fail or be manipulated.

"So, uhm… How large is this cavern? How deep underground are we?" Shera asked, and Zeifer fell back, ceasing his tirade of questions that had become borderline illogical. The chartreuse light of the cavern held a peculiar quality to it however. The green haze seemed to hold traces of turquoise. While waiting for an answer, the vagabond raised her codex scanner to her eyes, to the puzzlement of her ally, and focused on the most pronounced cloud of turquoise. The apparatus traced an outline of some structure, but the outline faded away as it's slanted sides passed out of the scanner's effective range. And with insufficient data, the scanner could not autotrace the structure. Suddenly she became aware of a pair of eyes trained on her.

"Your rangefinder will do you no good, child of the Dragon." The Lychguard responded, gazing at her with a cold-burning glare. "Since my Lord already unveiled the name of our magnificent planet, and you seem to be persistent in your inquisitiveness, I believe there is no harm in telling you about the planet itself. The Phaeron reminded us what it was to hold pride of our magnificent home, and sharing the glories of our planet is one such way." it was the peculiar wording that ticked both of Tenno the wrong way, but now that the Lychguard had become more vocal, the two dared not interrupt the automaton.

"Araxis - the shining blue gem of the Guv'Yrakh system. We are in the largest tomb complex on the planet - seat of the Vexhi power. It is adjoined by a multitude of secondary chambers, and tombs that house the majority of this planet's military might." the skeletal figure explained with his monotone voice still managing to convey the imposed grandeur of the location. "The main cavern itself stretches directly underneath the C'allais Abyss, the biggest underwater grotto of the planet, taking up almost a quarter of the largest body of water on the planet - the Asu'myar."

Shera quickly took this information in, as the alien geography lesson was no doubt something the Lotus would value greatly. However the implied size of the cavern itself, not to mention the countless tunnels, antechambers and side caverns, meant that they would only be able to leave on their host's goodwill. And even if the Tenno managed to gain access to the surface by their own means, they would be stranded on a planet far beyond the reach of even the most improbable of Orokin devices. Unless...

The Loki let out a low tone whistle, and sighed:"So, what you're implying is…" the infiltrator had not missed the part about the planet's army being based within or around their current location. "That this basically is a deathtrap to anyone, regardless of their capabilities or army size?" Zeifer had no doubts that the last resort for the Vexhi was to flood the entire cavern.

"Precisely." came the expected answer. The trickster and the vagabond fell silent.

As the trio moved forth, the turquoise light amidst the harlequin green became more prominent. They were approaching the first actual structures now, and Shera noted that the light emanated from the lines on the structures. As they passed the first squat pyramidal buildings, the two Tenno became acutely aware of the silence and absolute desolation of their current surroundings. The buildings seemed to be the most alive things around them, lines of energy visible pulsing inside their open archways.

"Why is it so quiet here?" the Loki broke the silence, starting to feel the effects of the absolute stillness as only their footsteps and their voices echoed in the air. He received no answer.

"It's like this place has been dead for a long time…" Zei continued, but just after uttering the sentence, the two Tenno heard heavy footsteps from up ahead. Not too far ahead a group of five heavily armored figures strode out of a sidepath. They held the same appearance as the simpler footsoldiers Shera and Zei had seen before, but their carapace seemed to be reinforced, as well as their twin-barreled weapons being linked to their back.

As the trio approached, one of the figures turned to them slightly raising their weapon, and Zeifer noted that in addition to the aquamarine-coated carapace, seemingly shared by almost every single one of their hosts, the new arrival sported a peculiar facial marking. His forehead was covered in crimson red, with a line running straight down to his chin. After a moment of silence, the figure returned to his companions and continued on their way.

The two Tenno could not shake the feeling that their guide had exchanged 'words' with the other one. Yet no sounds or even motions were made to support this notion.

"Who… were they?" Shera questioned, gazing at the group as they passed the pathway that the quintet had taken.

„A kill team." Came the expressionless answer. Shera couldn't shake the feeling that their guide was mocking her in some way. However, the description was enough to give her some insight as to what was their 'profession'. This understanding, however, proved to be a source of considerable puzzlement. She understood that they were exterminators, or a response unit, and thus she was confused as to why had they not encountered them on their way down. Were the Tenno lucky enough to sneak past the defences, or had they been seen and were deemed not threatening enough to warrant a kill team? Shera had trouble convincing herself of the first option.

The next few minutes went on in near silence again, as the two Tenno exchanged a few half-formed sentences, going past gradually larger structures until finally the Lychguard pointed towards a flat-topped pyramid, with countless conduits running to or from it.

"We have arrived!" the skeletal construct droned. "l believe the Cryptek is already expecting you. Best not keep him waiting. After all, he is the one who insisted on keeping you alive once you arrived." Their curiosity spurred, the duo headed on in.

The Phareon, having voiced his question, motioned the red and the white Tenno to follow him. The remaining two Tenno shifted uncomfortably, but followed nonetheless, as the remaining two Lychguard closed in behind them. The remainder of the force they encountered, aside from a massive, hovering spider, merged with the one appearing from the tunnel they had been in, and marched away to the left in complete silence.

Suddenly, both Dala and Vaan received a waypoint marker on their respective heads-up displays, a few paces behind them. They glanced towards their leaving squad mates, and saw Shera giving them a thumbs-up. Her sudden and rigid turn-around gave a jolt of surprise to Dala, who turned around to see the Phaeron observing the sharpshooter. Just as she had done that, the metallic overlord slowly shifted his head to meet her gaze. It struck her that he was, uncannily, aware of everything around him. This apparent omniscience further exacerbated the powerlessness that the pyromancer had felt after falling through the portal, and being downed by the enormous centipede.

"No need to look so distraught. You will soon be reunited with your companions." Ozrahkan stated with a slight motion of his arm. Neither Vaan, nor Dala liked the sound of that. They followed for a while in silence, with Vaan pondering on the answer of the previously received question, and Dala ruminating on their current situation.

"Well… I would have to ask you the same question, Phaeron. What do _you_ know of Mars. Since you know the planet by name, and _our_ name for it nonetheless, it might be that we simply have to fill in some gaps of it's history, rather than retelling the whole of it." Vaan finally answered with a counterquestion. This served to bring forth a deep sigh from the metal figure in front, as the party ascended a sudden steep incline. As the Tenno reached the top, they came upon a large, angular archway overlooking a steep chasm. Through it they saw distant megalithic shadows, partly obscured by the bichrome haze. The Phaeron strode up to the archway, and ran his hand over it's structure as alien glyphs, almost identical to the ones observed in the chamber back on Phobos, appeared on the onyx surface. The stone formation promptly lit up with turquoise energy lines and swirling distortions around it's inner edge. The view through the portal changed from that of the distant structures, to an ornate stone hall, with an illuminated table in the middle.

"Your counterquestion is a valid one. Come. It would be unreasonable to hold such discussions on barren crags." The head of the Vexhi dynasty beckoned the two Tenno to follow him.

However, before Ozrahkan himself passed through, the monstrous floating spider moved to intercept him.

"##$#/ ##/"$"##/ ##$#$$## /₩?==$" The arachnid automaton droned in low static.

"Is that so? Yes, assemble one in accordance to the post-Awakening protocols." the Phaeron instructed, as the two Tenno noted how eerily dissonant the alien language sounded. Then, as their host passed through the portal, Vaan and Dala realised that he had addressed them in their language from the beginning.


End file.
